Tag Archives: H-Fructose Magazine

Felix Dolah uses diluted charcoal to craft his minimalist, ghostly drawings. These figures, often gangly and dilapidated, come in sparse singular or as heaps of crowded, writhing characters. Elsewhere, he applies the same material to photographs, adding grim accents to archival images. He’s said that although early in life, he drew knights and monsters, “now I draw more monsters than knights.”

Carlos Tardez has a talent for portraiture across two- and three-dimensional forms. Yet, it’s in his sculptures that the surreal nature of his works becomes visceral, whether evoking laughter, intrigue, or both. These small figures are often paired with normal-sized, found objects. These interactions create strange narratives.

Malaysian artist Umibaizurah Mahir’s meticulously crafted ceramics are almost exclusively in the form of stylized, comical creatures, like three dimensional hand-made cartoons. The complex psychology of her collectible “toys for adults” places them at the intersection of man, society and nature, where nothing is what it seems. Like Collodi’s “Pinocchio”, these naughty objects are often on the run, trying to escape on hand-painted ceramic wheels and wings, climbing their pedestals or breaking out of their frames.

Richard Colman is well known for his paintings of colorful human figures bending and twisting into abstract compositions. Featured here on our blog, Colman’s new works explore the intricacies and curiosities of human relationships in bold and geometric displays. Similar to the frontalism style seen in Egyptian art, the heads of his figures are usually drawn in profile, while the body is seen from the front. The San Francisco based artist recently exhibited in the rotating Los Angeles exhibition curated by Roger Gastman, “W.I.P.” (Work in Progress), which closed over the holiday.